saxophonePosts

Hey all, I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to a fellow up and coming saxophonist, Mr. Adrian Crutchfield. I had the pleasure of meeting Adrian at NAMM a couple years back. He was hanging out at the Antigua Saxophones booth and introduced himself when I stopped by. I later got to know him and his playing better at the BG France/Legere/Theo Wanne artist jam and he’s definitely an artist you should check out. His vibrant and outgoing personality is something that definitely carries over into his music and has certainly played a huge part in his success as an artist.

We hope you enjoy reading through our interview with Adrian Crutchfield below.

The Interview

When did you first begin seriously studying your instrument?

I started playing Sax in school in the 5th grade.

Who are your greatest influences? Who did you study with?

My greatest influences are anyone I spend time making music with. There are too many to name, and they’re ALL great! I learn from each and everyone of them.

Saxophonist Adrian Crutchfield

Located Worldwide

Saxophone, Flute, Ewi, Music Production

Years Playing: 15 years professionally

School/Major/Degree: Florida State University – Jazz Studies, Contemporary Media, and Commercial Music

Who or what gave you the confidence to pursue music as a career?

Kenny G gave me a horn when I was 4 years old. After that, everyone said I’d be a performer of some sort. I didn’t take it seriously until middle school, when i realized 2 things -I could make money doing something i love AND girls love musicians!

What are your thoughts on what it takes to be successful as a performer? Do you think any other skills are needed aside from the ability to play your instrument well?

To be a successful performer it takes way more than raw talent or ability. A successful performer is well rounded. They are confident but NOT arrogant! Successful performers play to their audience and not just to themselves. Also, a successful performer knows how to play their role and compliment the other members of an ensemble. I could go on for hours about what makes a successful performer.

What are some of the things you did before your career as a performer became as successful as it is today?

I played at EVERY jam session I could get into. I made as many musical friends as I could. I just wanted to be playing, no matter the style of music or the crowd. At one point I was a member of EVERY major band in my city.

What are some of your goals musically for the future?

My goals are simple… 1. to be remembered, to make an impact…. 2. to provide a comfortable living for my family… and 3. to show the generations that watch me that you can be successful at ANYTHING if you approach it with respect.

What inspires you to continue to pursue music? Have you ever come close to giving up and if you did, how did you overcome it?

What inspires me to pursue music is passion plain and simple. Music is a part of me and the satisfaction i get from performing and creating with other people can’t be compared to anything else… If i couldn’t do this, I would die. Art is Passion!

What are some of the things you enjoy most about your career as a performer/recording artist?

What I enjoy most about my career is the traveling and meeting new people.

Do you write music? Where do you get your inspiration?

What was your lamest gig and how did you learn from it? What was the best?

We all have gigs that we would rather not do. But I don’t know that I would call it lame. Any opportunity to play music is GREAT! I’ve had my share of not so awesome gigs, but I can’t think of one in particular at the moment.

Hobbies other than Music:

I have a slight addiction to video games and cartoons. What can I say, I refuse to grow up.

What would your advice be for an up and coming, young musician?

Stay hungry and humble! Always be thankful for opportunities but never get comfortable! Always be on the lookout for the next accomplishment!

When did you first begin seriously studying your instrument?

I began really listening to jazz, practicing regularly, and taking lessons when I was 14 years old. In middle school, I rotated between first and second chair in the band depending on the results of each seating test, but I didn’t practice regularly or often (I still don’t even know how I ended up sitting in those chairs!). It wasn’t really until high school and getting the rejection letter from the honor band I tried out for during my freshman year that I really decided to dedicate myself and put an honest effort into practicing and studying.

Who are your greatest influences? Who did you study with?

I like to say I “studied” with Charlie Parker, Grover Washington, Gerald Albright and Warren Hill. I used to put on CDs of theirs and play alongside them for hours during my teenage years. I’d learn tunes out of the Omnibook and work them up to full speed with the recordings and, for the other saxophonists, would find transcriptions (or try to create them myself) for the tunes I wanted to learn. I grew up in Gilroy, which is a really small town in northern CA. I would drive to Santa Cruz to take actual lessons with Bill Trimble, who was one of the most respected classical saxophonists in the Bay Area and certainly the reason I developed a love for classical saxophone. I did take a couple jazz lessons with a local pro names Les Pierce as well (who was the saxophonist for just about every rock, blues, country, oldies, or Top 40 band in the South Bay), although it wasn’t until college and the experience of being in Los Angeles that I really had the chance to explore the jazz scene and also take some lessons with one of my idols­ Eric Marienthal.

Who or what gave you the confidence to pursue music as a career?

I believe that my parents, as well as my college saxophone teacher (Doug Masek), were certainly the most supportive and important people in terms of this decision. My parents were both part-­time musicians and understood the struggles of being a performer­ the hours and lifestyle, amount of dedication and personal entrepreneurial skills needed, etc. They had always encouraged me to make a living by combining performing and teaching (which they had done for many years out of college and most of the professional musicians they associated with had also done). I do believe it was my college teacher and the environment at UCLA that encouraged me to take lots of risks in my classical career­ I was lucky enough to audition and win orchestral stints with the Aspen Music Festival, New World Symphony in Miami, and Spoleto Festival in South Carolina. I definitely believe that the confidence I gained participating in these ensembles enabled me to apply that same risky spirit to my jazz career.

What are your thoughts on what it takes to be successful as a performer?​D​o you think any other skills are needed aside from the ability to play ​y​our instrument well?

Absolutely! There are a thousands of great saxophonists out there­ I do freelance in the Bay Area and work with some amazing players all the time. Also, being that you and I just returned from NAMM, we’re very aware of how many incredible and proficient sax players attend the convention to try out instruments and be heard­ many of whom don’t have household names. I believe that a lot of things contribute to becoming a successful performer­ branding, image, marketing/promotion, the ability to connect with an audience, and the ability to have your own “voice” (on your instrument, in your songwriting, and as a person).

What are some of the things you did before your career as a performer ​b​ecame as successful as it is today?

I’ve done everything from being a busboy at a Sushi restaurant to working at a theme park to working for a Police Station in their records department. In college, I worked for UCLA Live ushering and assistant house managing at the concert hall­ the great thing was I was actually getting paid to see all the shows! I lived in London for half a year as well and worked on a student visa. I ended up working for a catering company at the Natural History Museum and played saxophone at a nightclub with a DJ on weekends (usually from midnight until ­3am). After grad school, I took a job working for Mission Bell Manufacturing, which built specialty cabinets and did custom projects for companies all over the Bay Area­ had it not been for the economic crash in 2008 which prompted layoffs, I might not have been forced back into music full­-time.

What are some of your goals musically for the future?

I am very pleased and grateful for how everything is unfolding with this latest album. As far as the immediate future, I certainly want to tour, entertain and connect with new audiences, and promote this music as much as possible over the next year or two! At some point, I do look forward to getting to work on another album and certainly want to collaborate with some new friends/artists as well as continue working with many of the people I have thus far. I do love the creative process of writing, recording, building and layering parts, and exchanging ideas with other creative instrumentalists.

What inspires you to continue to pursue music? Have you ever come close​ t​o ​g​iving up and if you did, how did you overcome it?

Absolutely­ there are so many times where you feel like you just keep hitting the same roadblocks or just feel like can’t get ahead or that things are stagnant! For me, playing shows and hearing from fans about how much they love my music or how they discovered my music on Pandora or Music Choice or radio always reminds me of the fact that my reason for making music isn’t about personal success­ it’s about creating music that others enjoy and about putting the creative ideas I have to disc. I’ve taken time off from writing/recording every now and again, and always find that I’m drawn to starting another project at some point. It must be encoded in my DNA or something!

What are some of the things you enjoy most about your career as a ​performer/recording artist?

As a performer, I enjoy seeing people get up to dance, or smile and do the side­-to-­side neck bob, or put their head down and clap along, or just close their eyes and listen. For me, it’s about connecting with people and bringing them into the experience. I absolutely love chatting with people after the show. As a recording artist, I most enjoy the creative process of building drum patterns with sampled sounds and scratch tracks for other parts, writing and recording sax lines, and working with other instrumentalists­ it’s always exciting to see what other people come up with. Sometimes it’s exactly what you were thinking and other times it’s something better than you could have ever thought of!

Do you write music? Where do you get your inspiration?

I do­ it always varies. Sometimes I just get an idea for a tune in my head. On the title track of this CD, “Can’t Help Myself”, the keyboard figure and melody lines for basically the whole song came to me on a drive home from a day of teaching sax lessons. I got home and, within 30 or 45 min, had most of the tune committed to recording. Other times, I’ll build a tune up from a drum pattern I create. On “Come A Little Closer”, I started with the kick, snare, and thought up a sandpaper part (in place of a shaker or cabasa), and then sketched out some Fender Rhodes parts before passing it off to Matt Godina to get some input. On “Wait Awhile”, the bass line (played on an EWI) came first and was the grounding for everything else in the song. I listen to everything from smooth jazz to classical music (my wife is an orchestral clarinetist) to R&B so it seems like ideas come from anywhere and everywhere.KMPH FOX 26 | Central San Joaquin Valley News Source

What was your lamest gig and how did you learn from it? What was the ​b​est?

I’ve played on some pretty bad gigs in my time­ from sketchy bars to nightclubs to jazz quartet gigs where you are more or less expected to be “musical wallpaper” (although I still do weddings and corporate events from time to time, since the pay is usually hard to pass up). I will say that I’ve learned that my true passion isn’t playing background music for events or restaurants. I have definitely also learned not to play in places where the environment or ambiance isn’t appropriate for jazz. I don’t know if I could pinpoint a single best gig. I feel immense satisfaction every time I get the chance to perform my own music and feel the same excitement, enthusiasm, and connection with the audience at every show.

Where can we find more information?

My website is gregchambersmusic.com and I try to keep it as updated as possible­ for all the info on new releases and concert schedule, I’d suggest joining the mailing list on the homepage (I try to send 4­5 emails per year to keep people in the know). I am on Facebook as well with both a personal and an artist page.

New releases and projects coming up

Nothing yet since “Can’t Help Myself” just came out. I do have some ideas on paper (and some scratch recordings in Logic) already for the next project, but it’ll definitely be a while.

Why did you begin studying music?

Music has always been something that just “came to me.” Never had to study it, I just knew how to do it. I taught myself many instruments at a young age including piano, guitar, drums, bass, trumpet, and euphonium.

What are you doing with music now?

Right now, I have a jazz group and we are playing locally here in Florida.

Why did you begin studying music?

I started playing saxophone because I wanted to continue the tradition of my grandpa. He played saxophone and so did one of his sons (Joe Silva). I basically was raised in a musical family, with my dad (Reggie Silva) being the guitarist, composer, vocalist, producer, and musical mentor.

What are you doing with music now?

Currently I am still very active in playing my saxophone and other instruments I could put my hands on. Other than playing, since 2011 my dad has given me the responsibility to promote his band (The Blu J’z) that I am currently performing in. By promoting, I mean finding gigs and promoting his Cd “Feelin’ the Moment.” From then to now with God’s help The Blu J’z has been recognized by various smooth jazz media sources (magazine, airplay, interview, Cd review, and more) and have also been given the opportunity to open up for renowned smooth jazz artists such as Boney James, David Sanborn with Bob James, Brian Culbertson, Keiko Matsui, Fredric Yonnet, Patrick Lamb, Paul Taylor and Marion Meadows. To this day, I still promote my dad’s music because I strongly believe his music is very unique. Currently, we both are working on The Blu J’z second album, in which it is father and son collaboration.

Who are some of your influences?

My first influence comes from God, who has given me the gift of music to share to others. My dad plays a vital part as a father figure and musical mentor. A musician who made a strong impact on me is Maceo Parker (Saxophonist), in which I’ve transcribed many of his songs. His energetic funk style has awakened me as musician and performer, “I know now what I must do.” Also, I have come to find that, whatever influences me as a person is best expressed through my saxophone.

Who have you studied with?

In high school (Roosevelt High School) I received private lessons from saxophonist Gene Doi who is a highly respected and sought out musician. In college (California State University, Fresno) I received private lessons from Doctor Alan Durst, who is also highly respected and sought out musician and professor.

What do you plan on doing with music in the future?

My future plans are to finish the second Blu J’z album and to hopelly be an established band who performs at well known Jazz and Smooth Jazz related festivals, concerts, and venues.

Where can we find your music?

Any additional information you would like to add?

These words, “I will never give up” is what I told myself in first grade which continues to inspire me to this day in everything I do and experience, but it is ultimately the belief that through God anything is possible.

The family-originated band The Blu J’z began as the vision of Reggie Silva. He grew up in a family of musicians, so it’s no coincidence that he chose to make music his life. As a guitarist, composer, and vocalist, Reggie’s influences came from performing and listening to bands and artists of the seventy’s era, like Earth Wind Fire, Chicago, Carlos Santana, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Tower Power, Andre Crouch, The Winans, and many others. In 1998 Reggie’s vision in creating The Blu J’z sound originated from a dream, a dream of hooky melodies that paved a way in creating their first Cd in 2001, “Feelin’ the moment.” Reggie felt a connection with the album’s title because “it came from the heart.”

Originally starting out as a five piece band, his son Richard Silva (saxophonist) joined the band during his sophomore year in high school. Since then they became popular around Fresno’s jazz music scene, performing familiar cover tunes, and along with promoting their original material that overall gave a smooth jazz vibe. Their unique sound that attracted listeners consisted of styles of Funk, Rock, Jazz, Pop, Latin, and Rhythm and Blues.

In 2000, a newspaper writer from the Fresno Bee stumbled upon one of their performances at an Indian Casino named Table Mountain. Afterwards, he was compelled to write an article in which he titled “Family Band,” which was a full front page article on the Life Section displayed on Thursday, April 20, 2000. The original band members included: Reggie Silva (Band leader, guitarist), Joe Silva (Saxophonist, vocalist, percussion, brother), Richard Silva (Saxophonist, percussion, son), Julian Molina (Bass), Ricky Gonzalez (Rhythm guitar), and Juan Chevalier (Drummer, vocalist).

In addition to performing at Fresno’s hot spots, they got a chance to perform twice (2001 and 2002) at the Sacramento Jazz Festival, which in 2001 was the year The Blu J’z debut their first Cd. Another big event was in 2004 when they were asked to open for Fresno’s own Smooth Jazz Festival at Coombs Riverbend Ranch.

Within 4 years of the article, the band decided to break from the entertainment business. During this break many changes occurred in the structure of the band to include original members’ passing and moving away. Around mid-2010 Reggie was diagnosed with throat cancer. As a cancer survivor, in mid -2011 Reggie was ready for a comeback and this time his aspirations would lead him to rely on the abilities of his son Richard Silva. Richard Silva began to promote stronger for the Smooth Jazz sound that Fresno had slowly been lacking in the music scene since the departure of Smooth Jazz music from the local radio station 96.7.

Since Richard Silva took over the promoting of the band they have gained national radio attention by way of internet and have been recently nominated for Best Indie Smooth Jazz Group from GHP from Texas. The promotion of our originals has helped us gain recognition worldwide not only through airplay but also interviews. The Blu J’z has since been recognized by major magazine companies both in California (Coffee Talk Jazz Network) and Texas (Jazz In M.E.E.) By the watchful eye of promoters and diligent hard work they had been asked to be an opening act for smooth jazz artist Boney James in concert at Woodward Park Fresno, California in 2012. It was this performance that has helped opened the door to many other opportunities including opening for other well-known smooth jazz artists to include Fred Yonnett, David Sanborn with Bob James, and Brian Culbertson, and Patrick Lamb. To this day Richard is very much determined in spreading the word about The Blu J’z. Recently from Jazz In M.E.E’s April Magazine (2014) they referenced our Cd and wrote this, “Buyer beware, the melodies will grab your attention and provide an intense form of musical expression. Watch out! This band is creating a buzz.

“Our goal is to express what we feel, while giving the audience an entertaining experience.” Reggie Silva

Interested in having your profile featured on our site?

Teen Jazz is also looking for young Jazz Artist features, so you could become a feature if you apply. You will be notified by email of the status of your application.

Terms and Conditions:

(A) You cannot submit one sentence answers to the Teen Jazz Artist Application form questions, they must be a short paragraph.

(B) You must respond to the confirmation email that you receive from Shannon Kennedy after you submit your profile or your profile will not be published on Teen Jazz.

(C) Pictures and Contact Information on your page are optional, but let us at Teen Jazz know if you would like to have both or either on your profile.

I try not to use this space [Teen Jazz] for shameless self-promotion. I have my own website to do that, but every once in a while I have a project that I am a part of that I am just to excited about not to share.

Over the past few months, guitarist U-Nam and I have been working on a new collaboration – Groove LTD. This past week we released our first single “It’s Only Love”, a cover of the Barry White classic made popular by Simply Red.

The single is currently going for adds at smooth jazz radio stations around the country and we would be absolutely thrilled if you called in to your favorite local station to request the song. Just ask for “It’s Only Love” by Groove LTD.

Why did you begin studying music?

With me being a freshman in high school I can’t say that i’m studying music but its what i want to do with my life and I’m extremely serious about it. It is my favorite thing to do in the entire world and I look forward to being a music major once i reach college.

What are you doing with music now?

Right now I’m trying to get my name out in the music world in my area by playing at jam sessions, auditioning for every honor band and other audition entry band around, and school concerts.

Hi guys, Rheuben again. Today I’d like to talk to you about the first altissimo G on the tenor saxophone – what can be done and what can’t be done to help that note come in. It’s a problem note on the tenor sax, so there are several things we can do and a lot of things we can’t do.

First, the most important thing we can do is check the adjustment to make sure that when you push the harmonic key, the front F, it holds down the B key and this little key [points]. Now this adjustment must be in place for the altissimo G to work.

Now if you play that G and the instrument doesn’t work and doesn’t respond as well as you like it to, on most modern saxophones, right here by the harmonic key there’s a screw [shows]. You can loosen the screw, slide it back and forth, and it will allow you to change the opening of the high F key. There’s quite a bit of distance that you can change here to make that note come in.

So now, when you get that when the note comes in, remember you’re sliding this back and forth and changing the high F, you’re also changing it so that it will effect your high F and high E when using the fork fingerings. When you make that adjustment, keep in mind that it will change these notes also.

Now if you’re playing a saxophone that has a high F# key, you can play the high F# key like this and open the F# key with a button [shows] and that works for some people depending on the mouthpiece and everything or you can play the B key and the high F# key [shows]. That tends to be a little flat but it has a great color. So if you’re going to do it quick, this is great. If you’re going from a B to a G, all you do is hit this key and you go from a high B to a high G and back.

So that’s pretty much all you can do to adjust the saxophone to help with the first altissimo G. And I think that’s it… Later!!

I’d like to talk a little bit about the neck cork. Now this is a Selmer Mark VI neck and as you can see over time, the neck cork has been lengthened quite a bit. It should stop right about here (shows where) but you have another half inch that was done on this.

So what happens is, whenever you go to put on a neck cork, you try not to lengthen it at all. So in the case of this though, you can see all the marks and things, so I put the cork just to here and there’s going to be a big ugly piece coming out of that neck. So what we have to do once the cork is cut, we must go that same length with the new neck cork.

Now I use contact cement when I’m putting on a neck cork. So what you want to do to prepare the neck cork is, I usually cut the cork sheet down the middle, then you cut a tapered angle on one end (demonstrates) so that it’s tapered underneath, then you apply the contact cement.

Okay, normally when I put the contact cement on, I use a pipe cleaner because it’s easier, but I’m out so today I’m using a q-tip. You simply go over your tapered area first. You don’t want it to be too thick at all, but you have to make sure that it covers everything (demonstrates applying contact cement to the tapered area and the back of the cork). Put the contact on.

Just want to make sure you cover all of the cork you’ll be applying and you want to make sure you far enough. It doesn’t matter if you go past where the wraps going to be. You just have to make sure you put enough on there for where the wraps going to be. So I go a little extra.

Put [the glue on], then that’s that part for the moment. Simply lay the cork on something to give the glue time to get tacky.

The next step, of course, is to put the contact glue on the neck. I’m doing this tenor neck. So I simply take the contact glue and place it around the neck. Now you want to make sure you get it on this seam right here (shows) and on the top because in this little seam [you need to make sure the cork sticks]. Again, you want to make sure you cover everything. If it doesn’t get covered, it won’t stick. And it’s very important to cover the end because that has to be cut a little thinner than the rest of the cork.

And as I’ve said before, this particular neck is a little long, so there’s a little extra room you have to do here. Make sure you don’t put it on too thick or with any clumpy spots or it will take a long time to dry. You want the glue to be fairly even.

It’s generally easier with a pipe cleaner, the q-tip is a little limited. Get it all around the neck cork area. Then put it somewhere for the glue to get tacky without it touching anything.

It will take a while for the tenor cork I just prepared to be ready to sand, so I have here an alto cork that I’ve already put on. It’s already been wrapped and everything, so I’ll show you how to sand it. It’s fairly simple to sand. Simply lay it down. I get these sanders (shows) at the 99 cent store. I get three of them for $1. And by hand, I sand the cork.

Now contrary to many things that I’ve heard, the saxophone neck is not a cylinder, it is tapered. So the back end of the cork must be thinner than the front of the cork in order to make the cork a cylinder to the mouthpiece to slide onto and seal properly. So you must take a little more off the backend. And the cork seam, of course, should always be placed on the bottom of the neck (shows) so that it’s not seen. When the mouthpiece is on, you don’t see the seam.

And you just start sanding. Turn the neck a little [as you go]. And hand sand it until it’s the right [thickness] for the mouthpiece you’re going to fit to this neck.

Okay, now I’m getting ready to put the neck cork on this tenor neck and one of the things you need to do, as I used contact cement, is that you need have a place to put it while the contact cement is drying. So at the end of my work bench, I drilled two holes. One is 1 1/8 inch for the tenor necks and one is 1 inch for the alto neck. So that’s where they can sit while you’re waiting for the glue to dry and there’s no chance of knocking it off the bench or any of the kind of stuff because it’s actually in a hole and setup.

[To put the cork on the neck, the side of the cork with glue goes against the neck. I start the tapered end at the bottom of the saxophone neck cork area so that when it’s all said and done, the seam isn’t visible. If I have extra cork after I wrap it around the neck cork area, I cut it so that it lines up seamlessly with the tapered edge. Be careful not to cut the actual saxophone neck. Press the cork down against the neck to get a nice seal and let the glue dry before you begin sanding.]

[Goes back to alto neck] So now I have sanded the neck cork so that it’s a complete cylinder and very smooth and now’s the time to put the mouthpiece on and make sure that it fits. So you want to put a lot of cork grease on the neck. And then the mouthpiece that I use to test putting it on is one that I manufacture that has a metal ring around it so that it’s less likely to crack. So then you simply put the mouthpiece on the neck and get it on as far as you can get it on and [as you can see] that’s a very nice fit, a very nice distance. The player can put it there or out here, he’s got a lot of room and the cork is very snug. So at this point, I look at the back of the cork here (shows) and if it’s thicker in the back here than where you put the mouthpiece on, then I just simply sand that piece down a little more until it gets to be completely a cylinder so you don’t have that big bump at the back end. Now you’re finished and the cork is ready to be used.

Copyright Stuff

Teen Jazz is a for-profit blog, meaning that we occasionally work with brands who compensate us for our time. All products or services that we endorse or review are products or services that we would use even without being paid, and opinions are our own.

We also occasionally use affiliate links, which give us a small commission if you purchase one of the products or services we talk about in our posts. This in no way affects the price that you pay for the product or service in question.